New Music Monday Picks For January 9

January 9, 2017

January 9’s New Music Monday picks feature a blues queen, the latest from the Land Down Under and a shiny new track from The Shins:

James Mercer started dropping hints this past summer that a new Shins record would be landing sometime in 2017, but unlike the purported new album from Beck, which keeps getting pushed back (and back), this one comes to fruition on March 10 with the release of Heartworms. Back at Halloween, “Dead or Alive” was the first new Shins song to emerge after the band’s nearly five-year absence, and it appears on the new album along with this love-at-first listen opening track called “Name For You.” Nice to have you back, guys. Don’t stay away so long next time, OK?

We were sold on blues queen Valerie June from the very time our ears first took in her 2013 album Pushin’ Against A Stone, and her appearance at our 2014 summer series. The time she opened for Sharon Junes & The Dap Kings at The Granada cemented her place in our hearts for all eternity. She makes her mighty return on March 10 with Order Of Time, and a Dallas stop at the Granada on February 27. Enjoy our latest song crush of hers called “Shakedown,” a tribute to her late father, and demonstration of the raw power and grit that Valerie June always brings to the table so beautifully.

The L.A.-based artist Hanni El Khatib has put in loads of time touring and recording, and collecting royalties from a number of his songs that have appeared in endless commercials (Converse, Levi’s, Nike and Applebee’s). Now he’s gearing up for the release of his fourth album, Savage Times, arriving February 3 via Innovative Leisure. “Paralyzed” will pull you out of your Monday doldrums and go straight to your happy place.

Musically speaking, there’s a never-ending stream of awe-inspiring music coming out of Australia, and The Outdoor Type is the next name you’ll be picking up on your radar here in the coming months. Lead singer and songwriter Zack Buchanan went down the rabbit hole of past acts from the Land Down Under such as The Church and Go-Betweens to mold his sound, emerging with “On My Mind,” which started off as a viral hit thanks to Spotify, and is now picking up steam Stateside.